LDO and Springfields see strong Easter as outlets continue to perform

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 25, 2019

Thursday offered up more evidence of the strength of the outlets sector with both London Designer Outlet at Wembley Park and Springfields Outlet in Lincolnshire reporting strong Easter trading. 

Both malls saw total revenues rising 4% year-on-year with footfall up 5%. LDO’s like-for-like revenue was up 0.3%.

The outlet sector is continuing to outperform the wider UK retail sector with its sales growing at a faster rate than shopping centres as a whole in recent years.

And the Wembley mall has been seeing higher tax-free sales through tourism too with a 3.4% rise so far this year.

Easter fell later this year and that later timing seems to have helped sales. Last weekend was a record-breaker for high temperatures compared to 2018’s earlier, chillier Easter and fashion felt the benefit. Clothing, footwear and sports all saw an uptick due to the warmer weather.

At the end of 2018, LDO became the first UK shopping centre to offer Dropit, the app-based, store-to-door delivery service. During the week up to Easter Monday, average spend per head among users of Dropit was almost five times greater than by other guests.

Meanwhile, the Lincolnshire mall, saw 4% revenue growth over the Easter School holiday period (despite the hot weather that encouraged many consumers to forget about shopping and get out and about instead). That continued its strong performance from Q1 when revenue rose 9%.

The centre has now achieved 14 years of consecutive revenue growth since opening in 2004. By integrating outlet shopping and an on-site leisure offer, it's been able to compete with other leisure attractions.

And there are plans afoot for an £18 million extension of the outlet centre with final planning consent expected in June. This should add an extra 50,000 sq ft or retail and dining space.